In the Pipeline: 1/23/13

How much electricity do you figure all that stuff uses? How many coal miners in West Virginia did it take to power this party? How many different petrochemicals and people taking heart medication are in the room? How many of these rich people jetted in?National Wildlife Federation (1/21/13) reports: “VIP celebrities confirmed to attend the event include: Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrell Green, current and former Washington Redskins players Lorenzo Alexander, Kedric Golston, Chris Wilson, Antwaan Randle El, and Derrick Dockery; Washington Capitols player Matt Hendricks; Bill Nye the Science Guy; Comedian and Political Commentator Stephanie Miller; The West Wing’s Melissa Fitzgerald; Les (Survivorman) Stroud & Gina Gershon; Actor and Director Tate Donovan; Actor/Model Boris Kodjoe and Actress/Model Nicole Ari Parker; Actor and Comedian Wayne Brady, and Race Car Driver Leilani Munter.”

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damned fool about it.ThinkProgress (1/17/13) reports: “Highlighting the fact that a global switch to renewable energy is not just necessary, but doable, a new report released by the WWF concludes that the solar arrays necessary to meet all the world’s projected energy needs in 2050 would cover under one percent of global land area.”

Up until now, us peasants have been very accommodating towards His Majesty’s green pipe dream. But when airliners start turning into fireballs, I think we will start to wonder if he has gone George III on us.Washington Examiner (1/22/13) reports: “When Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded Boeing’s fleet of 787 Dreamliner commercial jets last week due to unexplained battery fires, one of President Obama’s favorite green energy technologies got another black eye…. Technologists and safety experts had long warned of problems with the lithium ion battery when in 2009 the president began betting billions of tax dollars that it should be the green power of choice for cars, trucks, and even aircraft.”

At least His Majesty reduced unemployment in his first four years and talked all about it in his speech on Monday. Oh wait – no he didn’t. Washington Times (1/22/13) reports: “At at time when everyone else in the country is talking about prolonged unemployment, record spending and the debt ceiling, the president wants to talk about global warming and climate change?” asked Benjamin Cole, a spokesman for the conservative Institute for Energy Research. “It didn’t go well for him with cap-and-trade the first time around. And he’s not going to have the kind of support for these policy proposals [in Congress].”